The present invention relates to user-interactive computer supported display technology and particularly to such user interactive systems and methods that are user friendly and provide computer users with an interface environment that is easy to use, even in displays that are crowded and cluttered with icons.
The past decade has been marked by a technological revolution driven by the convergence of the data processing industry with the consumer electronics industry. This advance has been even further accelerated by the extensive consumer and business involvement in the Internet over the past several years. As a result of these changes, it seems as if virtually all aspects of human endeavor in the industrialized world require human-computer interfaces. These changes have made computer directed activities accessible to a substantial portion of the industrial world""s population, which, up to a few years ago, was computer-illiterate, or, at best, computer indifferent.
In order for the vast computer supported industries and market places to continue to thrive, it will be necessary for increasing numbers of workers and consumers who are limited in computer skills to become involved with computer interfaces.
Despite all of the great changes that have been made in the computer industry, the screen cursor controlled manually by the user still remains the primary human-computer interface. The user still commands the computer primarily through manual pointing devices such as mice, joy sticks and trackballs that control the on-screen cursor movements. It must be noted that the principles involved in such pointing devices were developed over a generation ago when most of the people involved in interfaces to computer were computer professionals who were willing to invest great amounts of time in developing computer skills. It is very possible that had computers originally been the mass consumer, business and industry implements which they are today, user interfaces that were much easier and required less skill to use would have been originally sought and developed. Nonetheless, the manually controlled cursor movement devices are our primary access for cursor control. The present invention is directed to making mice, trackballs and like cursor control devices more user friendly and effective.
Icons in Graphical User Interfaces (xe2x80x9cGUIsxe2x80x9d) are, of course, the primary access through which the user may interactively select substantially all computer functions and data. Thus, the number of icons that the user has to contend with in the navigation of his cursor to his target icon has been increasing greatly. These may be arranged in many layers of windows. In certain portions of the users"" display screen, there may be dense populations of icons. The icons may overlap or be stacked one on the other.
In addition, the users"" desktop display screens have been increasing in size to thereby provide the user with the luxury of some room for icon spacing to visually separate icons. On the other hand, users are extensively using laptop computers and palm-type devices, including Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and even cell phone displays to supplement their desktops. Thus, the desktop displays need to be replicated on these smaller screen devices to thereby make the icons even more closely spaced. In any event, whether it be on the desktop, laptop of smaller screen device, the selection of icons or like displayed objects and items from crowded screen areas presents a problem.
The present invention offers an implementation for the interactive selection of icons from display screen areas crowded with a high density of icons. The invention provides a user activated cursor control device, such as a trackball or mouse, that is movable in the four orthogonal directions. The control device is connected to the computer which includes means for converting the user activated orthogonal movements into cursor or pointer movements in said four directions. The key to the present invention is in the provision of means for setting up around each of the selectable items, e.g. icons, a perimeter zone or halo at a predetermined distance from the perimeter of the item or icon. Thus, when an icon with such a halo is approached by an on-screen pointer, e.g. cursor, there are means for moving any adjacent icons that are within this halo to a screen position beyond this predetermined distance, i.e halo. The moved adjacent icons are subsequently returned to their original positions after a set period of time or after the pointer or cursor has moved beyond the approached icon.
One aspect of this invention is directed to an icon state wherein said adjacent icons and selectable icons overlap each other and, thus, it is difficult for the user to distinguish which icon he wishes to select. For such a situation, the invention further includes means for user selection of icons that includes means for sequentially moving all other icons away from each of the overlapping icons for said predetermined period of time to thereby expose each of the overlapping icons in combination with means for sequentially enabling the user selection of each exposed icon.